Holder for stropping safety-razor blades



April 21, 1925.

c; F. GAUNT HOLDER FOR STROPPING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed Sept. 21, 1922 F'i -L w ram/H Z w Patented Apr. '21, 1925.

UNITED STATES CHARLES F. GAUNT. O'F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

I-I OLDER FOR STROPPING SAFETY-RAZOR BLADES. 7

Application filed September 21, 1922. Serial No. 589,714.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES FREDERICK GAUNT, of the city of Birmingham, England, a subject of the King of Great Britain, have invented a new or Improved Holder for Use in Stropping Safety-Razor Blades; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to holders for use in stropping safety razor blades and consists of a new or improved construction of holder hereinafter described for the reception of safety razor blades of the Gillette or Durham type, that is to say, of the type in which the blades have therein a pair or other number of holes or perforations for permitting the blades to fit or take on to studs which position the said blades in the safety razor.

According to the invention the new or improved stropping holder comprises a single strip of spring metal so bent or doubled on itself as to provide a pair of arms or branches somewhat resembling the arms or branches of a pair of'spring metal sugar or like tongs, that is to say, the arms or branches of the spring strip are not completely flattened on one another at their ]U.I10ti0Il but are cbnnected or pass into one another by a curved portion tending to preserve the arms apart.

Each arm or branch at the part adjacent their connected ends is given a slightly bowed formation, or in other words, the arms or branches from their junction are first made convergent relative to one another and then divergent the said formation bringing the arms into contact or nearly so at or about the middle of the bowed or curved parts, and on the said parts is arranged a ring having the size and shape roper to embracethe arms or branches and eing capable of a sliding motion thereon for the purpose hereinafter described.

The bowed parts constitute the handle proper of the device the said handle part having a length and width convenient for manipulation of the device and the bowed portions pass into the respective outer ends or blade gripping parts which gripping parts may be and preferably are slightly curved or outwardly convex in cross section so that their inner or presented faces between which the blade is to be positioned and gripped for the stro ping operation do not contact with the bla 0 over their whole surface but merely have contact therewith along their edges and firmly grip the blades at each side thereof along the parts which project from the holder.

The blade to be stropped is positioned between the said outer ends or gripping parts of the holder by providing in the outer end of the one arm perforations, and on the inner face of the other gripping'part short studs or teats coincident with the said perforations the said studs being shaped and-distanced apart to correspond with the perform tions or certain of the perforations in theinvention, reference must be had to the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters indicate the same parts, and wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations or edge views of a safety razor blade holder in accordance with my invention the arms or branches of the holder being shown in'their open or non-acting position in Figure 1 and in their closed or gripping position with -a blade therebetween in Figure 2, a portion of the latter figure being shown in section;

Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 2 and Figure 4 a cross section on'the plane indicated by the dotted line 4-4 of the said Figure 3 and looking in the direction iudicated'by the arrow;

Figure 5 represents in side elevation or edge view a slightly modified form or construction of the device hereinafter more particularly referred to, the full lines showing the parts in their acting condition and the dotted lines indicating them' in their non-acting condition.

Figure 6 is a plan of the same and Figure 7 a front elevation of the sliding link or member of the said modified construction, detached.

8, 8 and 8, 8 are the two arms or branches of the holder obt-ained'by bending or doubling the single strip of spring metal on itself the curved part 8 by which the said arms or branches pass into each other being so shaped as to normally preserve or tend to preserve the arms or branches apart.

The outer parts or ends 8' and 8 of the branches constitute the members between which the blade shown only in Figures 3 and 4 and marked B is gripped, the member or part 82 having thereon two (or more) studs or teats 9 of a diameter proper and spaced apart the requisite distance to permit the blade to be stropped to be positioned thereon after the manner in which it is positioned for use in the blade holder of a safety razor.

The outer part or end 8 of the other arm or branch has perforations 10 therein correspending in number with the studs 9 and of a diameter proper to fit thereover when the two arms or branches are compressed to bring the gripping parts together.

The parts 8 of the metal strip, which parts constitute the handle of the blade holder are given a slightly bowed or curved form and have arranged thereon so as to embrace the said parts, the loop or ring 11 which is capable of alongitudinal sliding motion for the purpose of moving towards and away from the gripping parts 8*, 8

i is moved the parts being When the said sliding ring 11 occupies its out of action position, that is to say, when it is at or about the middle of the bowed parts 8 of the handle the outer or blade gripping ends 8 8 separate as repre sented in Figure 1 due to the formation of the holder and its inherent elasticity and when the gripping ends are so separated the blade B to be stropped can be positioned on the studs or teats 9 hereinbefore referred to or removed therefrom, and when a blade has been introduced it is only necessary to slide the embracing ring or loop 11 on the curved or bowed parts 8 in a direction towards the gripping ends of the holder to cause the said gripping ends to be brought into the r acting position by the compression whlch is put on the bowed part on to which the ring thus shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 with a lade firmly gripped between them.

A stop or shoulder 12 is provided on one (or both) of the arms or branches of the holder to prevent the embracing ring 11 passing from the bowed portions 8 on to the gripping arts 8, 8 of the holder, the said stop or s oulder being produced integral with the metallic strip by a stamping or pressing operation or being constituted by a separate piece brazed or otherwise fixed to the strip.

The gripping parts or members may haye the convex form in cross section seen in Figure 2 so that only their edges are in contact with the blade grippedbetween them.

I wish it to be understood however that I do not limit myself to the precise shape or formation of the parts of the holder described as the same may be varied without departing from my invention and various modifications in details are illustrated by Figures 5, 6 and 7.

From an examination of the said figures it will be seen that instead of the parts 8 which constitute the gripping handle of the device having a curved 'or bowed form throughout their length as in the first described construction the said parts 8 are straight or substantially straight through a portion of their length intermediate the gripping parts 8 8 and the bend 8 the remaining portion of the said arms or branches being curved outwardly or away from one another instead of towards each other as in the corresponding part of the first arrangement or construction.

Further in the said modification four tests or projections 12, two on each arm or branch of the strip, are provided to form limiting stops for the sliding member-11 by which the gripping parts are brought to their acting or gripping position and main tained therein and the said sliding member instead of having a plain ring or loop-like form has the cruciform shape best seen in Figure 7 the projection 11 thereon facilitating the manipulation of the said sliding member.

What I claim is as follows A holder for use in stropping safety razor blades consisting of a strip of metal bent back upon itself in the form of a pair of spring arms terminating in blade gripping, ends of reduced width and of curved cross-section and having parallel side edges one of said ends having studs and the other openings registering with the studs, said arms at a point a slight distance from the looped end extending towards each other to provide a reduced ortion and being inclined away from each other towards their free ends; and a ring encircling the arms and adapted to be located in position encircling the-reduced portion when the arms are sprung apart and movable towards the free ends thereof for the purpose of springing the arms together; and projections upon the arms at the inner ends of their blade gripping portions, said projections limiting the movement of the ring towards the blade gripping ends, said ring being cruciform to provide laterally extending fingerholds.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. GAUNT.

Witnesses:

GORDON G. CooKE, HARRIE'I'IE MCDONALD. 

